I was thinking hard recently about raising donations from people in my neighbourhood for the people affected by the tsunami, and I’m completely at a loss as how to go about it.
What can I do? I’m not sure I have the time to bake goods for a bake sale… maybe a raffle?
I think the best thing is to have a challenge to neighbors to meet a set goal as a group and give the money to UNICEF of CARE of World Vision.
Have some sort of yard sale but get evenyone in the neighborhood to contribute. If you are willing to sit outside with the stuff, (if it is freezing cold where you live) many people will donate items to sell.
One of the more clever ideas I saw for fast fundraising what the “Grand Gala Fundraiser Waste Of Time”.
It was a beautiful invitation, charging the same as if it really was a Grand Gala and to paraphrase:
"You are cordially invited to NOT attend another boring fundraiser with bad chicken, cold appetisers, and being forced to buy a new outfit, sit next to people you don’t know and make small talk. You are NOT expected to waste a weekend evening you would rather spend with your family, and you are NOT going to win a day at the spa in a raffle.
For only $___.00 you can help the survivers of the Tsunami by NOT wasting food, time and energy for an event you really don’t want to go to.
The Grand Gala will NOT happen at 8:00 PM on January 10th at the most exclusive place in town, so please BUY YOUR TICKETS before that date.
Looking forward to your non-attendance."
Find favourite pub/bar/club
Talk to owner , garuntee X amount of persons to show up, charge cover. Cover goes to Wave survivors , moneys spent on booze go to club owner.
Lots of other little things to do , while holding this shindig
Done right , could net you up to about 5 k
Declan
You could see about renting (or getting donated) a room at your community center or school. To ensure you don’t get stuck with a lot of stuff at the end of the sale, give over the last few hours to a grocery bag sale where everything you can fit into a paper bag goes for a set price. If you explain why you need them, you might get a store to donate some bags.
Also, some local kids put a toy (Knex, I believe) of theirs on eBay with the idea to send the money to the tsunami victims. The bidding is over $300 now. I wish I could find a link for that but that might be something you can do too.
I commend you for wanting to help. Good luck!
If you showed up at my door, asking for pennies for tsunami victims, you’d probably get about 12 pounds of pennies, nickels and dimes.
If you do something like this, I would recommend doing something the lend yourself credibility, so that people know you are not just pocketing it. Work with a local church or business, perhaps, so people see some accountability. Perhaps a student group from your college?
give people a card with a URL on it so they can track how much you have raised, and where it is going.